2015 Aspengrove Grade 5 and

Middle Years

SUMMER READING LIST

HONOR BOOKS AND AWARD WINNING CHOICES

FICTION

Bow, Erin. Sorrow's Knot. Winner of the 2014 Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, from the author of Plain Kate. At the very edge of the world live the Shadowed People. And with them live the dead. There, in the village of Westmost, Otter is born to power. She is the proud daughter of Willow, the greatest binder of the dead in generations. It will be Otter’s job someday to tie the knots of the ward, the only thing that keeps the living safe. Kestrel is training to be a ranger, one of the brave women who venture into the forest. (Amazon Book Review)

Johnson, Alaya Dawn. Love Is the Drug. Winner of the 2014 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. Emily Bird was raised not to ask questions. She has perfect hair, the perfect boyfriend, and a perfect Ivy-League future. But a chance meeting with Roosevelt David, a homeland security agent, at a party for Washington DC's elite leads to Bird waking up in a hospital, days later, with no memory of the end of the night. (Amazon Book Review)

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. A 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring and a 2007 winner of the Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year award. Jin Wang starts at a new school where he's the only Chinese-American student. When a boy from Taiwan joins his class, Jin doesn't want to be associated with an FOB like him. Jin just wants to be an all-American boy, because he's in love with an all-American girl. Danny is an all-American boy: great at basketball, popular with the girls. But his obnoxious Chinese cousin Chin-Kee's annual visit is such a disaster that it ruins Danny's reputation at school, leaving him with no choice but to transfer somewhere he can start all over again. (Amazon Book Review)

ASPENGROVE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CHOICES

This year we asked our Aspengrove School Library Exploratory class (consisting of students from Grade 5 to the end of the middle years program) to recommend their

favourite books for our summer reading lists. We also included in this year’s recommended reading selections the top book choices from the National Book

Foundation, an American Literacy Association, for middle years students.

 

FICTION

Donnally, Jennifer. Deep Blue. When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. (Amazon Book Review)

Donnally, Jennifer. Rogue Waves. Serafina, Neela, Ling, Ava, Becca, and Astrid, six mermaids from realms scattered throughout the seas and freshwaters, were summoned by the leader of the river witches to learn an incredible truth: the mermaids are direct descendants of the Six Who Ruled—powerful mages who once governed the lost empire of Atlantis. The ancient evil that destroyed Atlantis is stirring again, and only the mermaids can defeat it. To do so, they need to find magical talismans that belonged to the Six. (Amazon Book Review)

Flanagan, John. Ranger Apprentice Series: Ruins of Gorlan (Book1). They have always scared him in the past—the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And

now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. (Amazon Book Review)

Lafleur, Suzanne. The Eight Keys. Elise and Franklin have always been best friends. Elise has always lived in the big house with her loving Uncle and Aunt, because Elise's parents died when she was too young to remember them. There's always been a barn behind the house with eight locked doors on the second floor. When Elise and Franklin start middle school, things feel all wrong. Bullying. Not fitting in. Franklin suddenly seems babyish. Then, soon after her 12th birthday, Elise receives a mysterious key left for her by her father. A key that unlocks one of the eight doors upstairs in the barn… (Amazon Book Review)

Lorey, Dean.  Nightmare Academy. Rescued from a very sheltered life, 13-year-old Charlie learns that the monsters of his nightmares are real when he becomes a student at Nightmare Academy and begins training to harness his powers to fight terrible creatures and return them to the Netherworld. (Follett Library Title Description)

Palacio, R.J. Wonder. “You can't blend in when you were born to stand out. My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.” August Pullman wants to be an ordinary 10-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary—inside. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted. (Amazon Book Review)

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief - A Graphic Novel. After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. (Folliet Library Title Description)

Riordan, Rick. The Blood of Olympus Series: The Lost Hero (Book 1). Jason has a problem. He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she's his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids." What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong. (Amazon Book Review)

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter Series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1). Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. (Amazon Book Review)

Scrimger, Richard. Zomboy. In spite of a few—er—special challenges, creepy young Imre Lazar is sent to a regular classroom in an ordinary school in Southern Ontario. Bob's best friend, Evil-O, welcomes the stranger with an open heart. Bob doesn't—and he's not the only one. Soon the community's tolerance for difference and Bob's tolerance for an undead rival are pushed to the limit. Everyone is so busy fighting about "the Z word" that no one notices the signs of real trouble afoot... (Follett Book Description)

Shaw, Carol Anne. Hannah and the Salish Sea. In the second volume of her Hannah trilogy, summer has arrived, and 14-year-old Hannah Anderson is excited about spending it with Max (who has been giving her stomach butterflies lately). But things are happening in Cowichan Bay that Hannah can’t explain. When a mysterious accident leads her to a nest of starving eaglets, she meets Izzy Tate, a young Metis girl staying in the village for the summer. (Amazon Book Review)

Telgemeir, Raina. Smile. Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. (Amazon Book Review)

Telgemeir, Raina. Sisters. Raina can't wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren't quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn't improve much over the years, but when a baby brother enters the picture and later, something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all. (Amazon Book Review)

Westerfeld, Scott. The Uglies. The Uglies series has more than three million books in print, has been translated into 27 languages, and has spent more than 50 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now all four books feature fresh new covers and will reach an even wider audience. Tally’s adventures begin in The Uglies, where she learns the truth about what life as a Pretty really means. (Amazon Book Review)

NONFICTION

Bueno, Carlos. Lauren Ipsum: A Story about Computer Science and Other Improbable Things. "Captures the spirit of problem solving and ignites readers' imaginations...introduces girls and boys to computer science —and to a new way of thinking and problem solving." —Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of Lean In (as cited on Amazon Books)

   

Yousafzais, Malala and Lamb, Christina. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban. I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons. I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world. (Amazon Book Review)

NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION RECOMMENDATIONS:

HOT SUMMER READS FROM BOOKUP MIDDLE YEAR STUDENTS

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (Gr 5-8) It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary. (Amazon Book Review)

Korman, Gordon.Ungifted. (Gr 5-8) From #1 New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman comes a hilarious and heartfelt novel in which one middle-school troublemaker accidentally moves into the gifted and talented program—and changes everything. For fans of Louis Sachar and Jack Gantos, this funny and touching underdog story is a lovable and goofy adventure with robot fights, middle-school dances, live experiments, and statue-toppling pranks! (Amazon Book Review)

McMann, Lisa. Island of Silence. Second in the Unwanted series (Gr 5-8). A riveting middle-grade dystopian novel from New York Times bestselling Wake author Lisa McMann that Kirkus Reviews calls “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.” When Alex finds out he is Unwanted, he expects to die. That is the way of the people of Quill. Each year, all the 13-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the Quillitary. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination. It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate—until he discovers that instead of a “death farm,” what awaits him is a magical place called Artimé.

Reinhardt, Dana. Harmless. (Gr 7+) Best friends Emma, Anna, and Mariah are out doing something they shouldn't. They make up a story so they won't get in trouble at home. It seems like the easy way out. What happens next challenges their friendship, their community, their relationships with their families, and their sense of themselves. Told in the voices of the three girls who must learn to live with the lies they tell, Harmless is a gripping and provocative novel full of startling turns and surprises. (Amazon Book Review)

Riordan, Rick.The House of Haddes (Book 4). (Gr 5-8) At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through Gaea's forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors from both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

Zusak Markus. The Book Thief. (Gr 7+) It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. (Amazon Book Review)